A Guaranteed Good Time in Asheville, North Carolina

July 28, 2021 by Erica

Getting into the mountains of Appalachia is a great way to beat the summer heat of the East Coast. Living in the District of Colombia, aka swamp town, we are no strangers to the sticky, humid summer days. We often found ourselves driving out to Shenandoah National Park to gulp down crisp Appalachian air.

Asheville, a funky mountain town in North Carolina Appalachia, was on our list of places to go for years. We finally booked an amazing Airbnb for April of 2020. However, the pandemic was well underway at that point, and we felt it was best to cancel the trip. As cases went down and it looked like remote work was here to stay, we decided to spend our first month as nomads in Hendersonville, just outside Asheville, for July of 2020. The cool mornings and afternoon storms were what we were searching for to escape the summer heat.

Below we’ve listed our favorite things to do in and around Asheville. If you enjoy being outside and drinking great beer, then you are guaranteed to have a great time!

Drink Beer

Hands down, the best thing to do within Asheville is to check out the great breweries downtown. Almost all breweries get pretty crowded on the weekend, so we highly recommend checking these out on a weekday. If you find yourself in a line, they typically move pretty quickly, but there are plenty of other options if a line seems unreasonable. If you are sipping in the afternoon, be aware that afternoon storms are common, so it’s a great time to snag a seat inside.

We loooove sour beers, so The Funkatorium by Wicked Weed was right up our alley. There are a lot of outdoor seating options and some pretty good snack options too. Wicked Weed also has another brewing pub downtown but was closed while we were there. If sour beers aren’t your thing, that location is another good option.

Burial Beer Co. is another place with great sours, a relaxed vibe, and even beer slushies! (we only realized afterward, so we never tried them). In the yard, there are old gutted car cabs for a funky seat. We got lucky enough to snag one on Andrew’s birthday!

Green Man Brewing has more typical beers if you need a break from the sours. This joint has a few different levels inside and outside, so it might be a good stop if other places have longer lines. We enjoyed sitting on the patio here and watching the buzz of Asheville go by.

Other notable mentions are Catwbwa which had live music but not enough spots on the patio for us to hear it, and Twin Leaf Brewing with its adorable side patio and short line. Both had great beer. There are many more breweries, but many of them were still closed when we were there last June. We can’t wait to get back and try the others!

Get Outside

Nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, Asheville is an outdoor lover’s dream. Close to the Great Smoky Mountains, the most popular (and free) US National Park, as well as the Blue Ridge Parkway and Pisgah National Forest, there are plenty of hikes and incredible mountain views nearby.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

First things first, you can’t come to this part of Appalachia and not visit the Smokies. This free park is just over an hour from downtown Asheville, and the drive is just beautiful. As the country’s most visited National Park, it is crucial to get here early to secure a parking spot at any of the trailheads. Arriving early also increases your chances of seeing beautiful elk at the park entrance!

We ended up visiting twice and did two incredible hikes. On our first trip to the Smokies, we decided to hike to Charlie’s Bunion with a pit stop at The Jump Off, a lookout point with a view of nearby peaks. While there was almost no one on the trail, the downside of being up early in the Smokies is that they are true to their name, extremely foggy. By the time we made it to The Jump Off, we were still sitting in a cloud. So much for that view!

After watching the Smokies do their thing for a bit, we headed to Charlie’s Bunion. By the time we made it, the fog had cleared, and we were able to see the peak with its funky rock protrusion (bunion?). The views of the Tennessee mountains were stunning, but we didn’t linger long because storm clouds were rolling in. The hike back was more strenuous than the hike in, leaving us exhausted and ready to relax on our porch swing with a few beers.

The second time we returned to the park with a crew and did quite a challenging hike. We hiked 12 miles in Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Mount LeConte via the Alum Cave trail out and back. The trail goes through beautiful geological features, including an arch and cave. The 6ish miles in were hard! It was probably one of the most challenging hikes we had ever done at that point. Almost the entire way to the top is uphill, but without taking any breaks, we pushed through our hangovers and passed other hikers until we finally made it to the top.

The hike back down was much more manageable. By the end, we were exhausted but impressed with ourselves. The gents cooled off in the stream before a lazy evening resting our bodies. We would recommend either of these hikes but come prepared with plenty of water and snacks, and start early!

Blue Ridge Parkway

Another fantastic option for getting amongst the mountains and trees is the Blue Ridge Parkway. The scenic highway is wonderful in itself, with tons of pull-outs to take in the breathtaking views. There are tons of hikes off this road too. We loved Skinny Dip Falls for a chilly dip, Black Balsam Knob for a lovely sunset, and the most memorable, Fryingpan Mountain Lookout Tower.

A short hike down a wide trail brings you to the rickety steel Frypan Mountain Lookout Tower. While you can’t go to the very top, the platform just below gives an incredible view of the surrounding area. Erica is afraid of heights but took her time, taking step by step to make it as far up the tower as was open. It was scary but was a great view.

Waterfalls

All around the forests of Asheville are waterfalls. The best ones are in Pisgah National Forest and Dupont State Forest. We wrote a whole blog post about our favorite waterfalls here. Don’t miss it!

Tubing

This activity is best done with a group of friends. If you’ve never been tubing before, it’s basically like an adventurous lazy river. The company provides the tubes and a shuttle to the drop zone so that you can float back to your car. We went with Zen Tubing at the South Asheville location and were not disappointed.

We rented a tube that came with straps to link us all together and a cooler tube for an extra $5. We wore some water shoes and brought a cooler of tasty adult beverages. The company gave us a paddle to steer, but we just jumped out whenever we thought we might run into an obstacle, and the water was only waist-deep. The best thing to do is find an island to chill on to extend the time. The whole experience was the trip’s highlight, combining our favorite things: the outdoors, time with friends, and, well, drinking. 🙂

Sunsets

Last but not least, you must catch an Appalachian sunset while in Asheville. Most of the time, we saw them in our car or from the deck of our Airbnb. But, the times we went chasing sunsets did not disappoint.

Even better than the sunsets off of our front porch were the sunsets at Jump Off Rock. A short drive, up windy mountain roads, and past incredibly landscaped mansions, brings you to this beautiful lookout spot. There are short hiking paths around the lookout point and a giant patch of wild blackberries that we took full advantage of. It got extremely crowded before sunset, but it was a beautiful place for a picnic and a never-ending view of the mountains the hour before.

Another excellent option is along the Blue Ridge Parkway. We hiked 1 mile up to Black Balsam Knob just in time for the eastern sky to start turning orange. We devoured our picnic and tried to stay warm by exploring the top of the mountain. There were 360-degree views that awed us and campsites that made us jealous. Unfortunately, just before sunset, a thick cloud rolled in, and it sadly diminished our dreams of an entirely pink sky. All in all, it was a beautiful hike that we would love to return to do one day! Remember to bring a headlamp for the walk back to the car.

Don’t Pass Up Hendersonville

We couldn’t publish this blog post without mentioning the cute town of Hendersonville, where our Airbnb was located. Each morning we looked forward to spotting the turkeys that ventured into our yard while having our cup of coffee on the porch swing and hoping the cardinal would stop fighting himself in the car mirror! We were able to reconnect with the art of being present, so much so that Andrew took up whittling. We spotted blackberries in the yard, embraced evening downpours, and lingered over sunsets.

While we spent a decent amount of time in Asheville, Hendo has plenty of great options too. The historic downtown is excellent to walk around, sample some fudge, check out the painted bears, and of course, grab a drink.

One of our favorite watering holes was Triskelion Brewing Campany which had great beers of all kinds. Erica loved the spicy ones, and Andrew went for malty.

The Blue Door Beer Bottleshop and Beer Hall where we bought all our beers for home consumption. This fantastic little spot has a small bar and tons of beer options, including local brews. It can get pricey, but it’s fun to try a bunch, especially with friends!

Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards is a bit out of the downtown area, but the deal here is incredible. They do pick 3 “tasting flights” (actually full pours) for $9. The dessert wine was surprisingly our favorite!